Harry Potter: 10 Terrifying Facts You Didn’t Know About Dementors

In the words of Professor Lupin, “Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth,” which largely rings true, even if it is an extreme understatement. Their very nature depends on the anguish of human beings, seeing as their ideal nutritional profile comprises the abstract concept of “joy.”

They are ridiculously dangerous, even to those who seek to control them, as Dumbledore explains that Dementors perceive no distinction between the ones they are ordered to hunt and anyone who has the misfortune to come in between. How much is actually known about these denizens of Azkaban, though?

10 Their Origin Remains A Mystery

In Harry Potter, Dementors technically guard the Wizard prison of Azkaban, preventing its tortured inhabitants from escaping by sapping them of every pleasant thought and emotion.

It is alleged that they are either a byproduct of “research” conducted on the island by Ekrizdis (about half a millennium ago), or they emerged from some darker evils lurking beneath the surface, as the wizards who first laid eyes on Azkaban claimed that “the least frightening part of it was that the place was infested with Dementors.”

9 They Cannot Affect Animagi (As Much)

Although not much is clear about brain activity in Animagi — are they exactly the same as their human versions? — it is a given that they are aware of who they are in that form.

However, as Sirius explains it, he used to convert into his black dog form while entombed in Azkaban in order to protect his precious memories from their mental rot; and while the Dementors perceived a distinction, they could not confirm his state as they are, well, blind. It is the Animagus mind that also aids in Sirius’ prison break, again for the same reasons.

8 What Happens When They Kiss?

The dreaded Dementor’s Kiss occurs as a last resort: these fiends grab onto the face of their unfortunate prey and suck out their literal soul. After Barty Crouch, Jr.’s experience with the Kiss, he was turned into a blank piece of paper, with nothing left behind in the broken husk that was once his body.

The question, however, is where does the soul go? Is it digested? Isn’t it supposed to be this indestructible that can only be shattered by cold-blooded murder? And Dementors can eat it?! Horrific.

7 The Ministry “Hires” Them As Prison Guards

The Ministry of Magic has committed blunder after blunder, as any political entity tends to do, but one of the worst decisions it has made is keeping the Dementors in Azkaban (and throwing its most hardened criminals to the worst fate imaginable.)

Interestingly, several witches and wizards have attempted to stop inflicting Dementors on human beings, even Ministers for Magic, after observing how the scales of justice are tipped unfairly against the prisoners. It was denied for the longest time, largely because the magical community believed that the evil beings would hunt innocent people if their diet is restricted.

6 It Takes Centuries To Ban Them

After the series of successively worse Ministers for Magic in the nineties, Kingsley Shacklebolt takes over the reins after the fall of Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts. One of his first acts as leader of the magical government is the removal of Dementors from their position at Azkaban (replacing them with highly trained Aurors instead.)

It’s certainly a great movie, but considering that most folks didn’t even pay the slightest attention to this issue until they and their families were in immediate danger is quite telling.

5 They Possess Some Form Of Consciousness

Even though Dementors do not have unique identities, they do show a few signs indicating sentience, at the very least. They accept the terms laid out for them by the Ministry for several centuries, but when Lord Voldemort comes to power, they immediately switch sides (knowing that they are about to get a lot more food.)

They are also highly organized, and while there is no clear leader, they work well together as a swarm intelligence — a focused goal and the motivation to fulfil it being their driving factors.

4 Not Much Of A Language Gap

Dementors obviously communicate with each other, but the specific language they use (if they even have one) is likely to be completely indecipherable. Further, it looks like they are able to express certain nuggets of information regarding their charges at Azkaban (such as revealing to Ministry officials certain details about Sirius’ behavior in jail.)

Does this mean that they speak English? Are there people who speak Dementorian (?) Does communication occur by other means, telepathic linkage, for example?

3 They Are Basically Huge Rotting Corpses

They might resemble people from a distance — macabre, floating, shrouded anthropomorphic extensions of humanity — but they are quite offensive to look at from up close. Their anatomy is rather corpse-like: gray, moist, scarred, decomposing tissues wrapping their bodies from head to toe.

Speaking of which, their faces are worse, consisting of deserted eye cavities and some kind of demonic mouth-space through which they feed. Also, their motions are entirely devoid of noise, making them even more creepy (if such a thing can be imagined.)

2 Different Ways To Stop Them

The most famous method involves the Patronus Charm, although the intricacy of its procedure prevents it from being a commonly used defensive spell. No other charms have an effect on them, perhaps not even the Unforgivable Curses, so stopping a Dementor in its tracks isn’t simple at all.

Chocolate also helps the victims of their predatory tendencies, to an extent, in that it partially revitalizes them, but the magic/science behind this remains unproven. Finally, it is theoretically conceivable to use techniques like Occlumency to enter into a zen-like state, thereby avoiding any emotional flux that can be utilized by Dementors.

1 Are They Even Alive?

Even after being around for hundreds of years, very little is actually known about these Dark Creatures. They are like living beings in that they have require consistent nutrition, but they cannot technically die (or get themselves killed) because they are classified as “amortal” beings: those that are not dead, but are also not really alive from the start.

Another confusing aspect relates to their reproductive methods, for instance, how are new Dementors formed? It’s possible that they dissipate into nothingness when forced to go without meals, though.

About The Author

Ajay Aravind
(429 Articles Published)

In real life, Ajay disguises himself as an academic, mainly writing textbooks for children — who all hate him for making their lives more miserable. He also writes about TV and film, strewing his opinions across the internet to see if people care (they don’t). You can find him @stain_dprinc_ss on Twitter.

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